Novel microRNA therapy for Type 2 diabetes

We have been working on cell and exosome therapies. While our initial focus was on lung injury, we serendipitously found that inhaled stem cell exosomes decreased blood glucose levels and controlled obesity-induced hyperglycemia in high-fat diet-induced T2D mice. Evidence pointed to exosomal cargo miR-23 as the potential active principle in exosome-mediated T2D control. In this proposal, we aim to determine the therapeutic efficacy and safety of inhaled miR-23 therapy in T2D mice. The Aims are: Aim 1. Formulation of lipid nanoparticle (LNP) based miR-23 delivery for in vivo studies; Aim 2. Determine the safety and therapeutic efficacy of LNP-miR-23 in a mouse model of T2D; Aim 3. Explore potential mechanism, i.e. molecular targets of miR-23 in T2D treatment.